July 7, 2005 London Bombings
The July 7, 2005 London Bombings, commonly abbreviated to 7/7 in the UK, is the name given to a terrorist attack which happened in Central London, England, on the morning of July 7th, 2005. The attacks were committed during rush hour in order to cause maximum effect. Targets and casualties In total, four bombs were detonated. The first three bombs went off at 8.50AM within 50 seconds of each other. These three detonated three different London Underground trains; the first one on an Eastbound Circle Line train, the second on a Westbound Circle Line train, and the third on a Southbound Piccadilly Line train. The fourth bomb exploded on the Number 30 double-decker bus at 9.47AM, slightly under an hour later. Four bombs in 50 minutes. In total, 52 people lost their lives and around another 700 were injured, not including the four suicide bombers who committed the bombings. The primary motivation behind the men who committed the bombings were against Britain's involvement in the Iraq War as well as other British and American intervention in the Middle East. Aftermath and Effects In the aftermath of the attacks, Britain was left in a nervous state. Numerous evacuations and controlled destruction of suspicious packages occurred during the rest of the day and some following the days afterwards. Two weeks later on July 21st 2005, an attempted bombing, which was ironically organised separately from the 7/7 bombings, further scared the Londoners. Four bombs were unsuccessfully detonated, only having about the same force as a large firework, and a fifth bomb was found without the bomber attempting to set it off As a result of these bombings and the armed police presence in many Underground stations, a 27-year-old Brazilian national living in London by the name of Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead on 22 July, 2005. The police marksmen responsible for the shooting claimed they mistook his identity for one of the bombers who attempted the bombing of the previous day. However, de Menezes had literally nothing to do with it. The whole affair caused controversy because of Metropolitan Police Service Commissioner Sir Ian Blair failing to see the appropriate inquiries were made. Exploitation by the BNP Following the bombings on July 7th, the far right-wing British National Party, wasted no time in publishing propaganda leafletsBNP campaign uses bus bomb photo , with the picture of the bombed Number 30 bus bearing the slogan; "Maybe it's time to start listening to the BNP." BNP leader Nick Griffin said the leaflet showed the cost of voting New Labour. Ordinary people said the leaflet showed what sick, disgusting people the BNP really are. Conspiracy Theories Some people have hypothesized that the 7/7 bombings were orchestrated by the UK government citing the fact that the bombers bought return tickets and didn't actually need to commit suicide.Witnesses 7/7 See also *September 11, 2001 attacks *Charlie Hebdo References category:Notable World Events Category:Politics Category:Terrorism Category:Things that keep people awake at night Category:Cruel ending